Fortune Cookie
by enchanted at once
Summary: Raven's been acting a little odd lately, so Robin does the logical thing and brings her a fortune cookie. Bits of RobxRae if you squint.


_Fortune Cookie_

_As the dragon reared it's head, the knight struck. His arms arched back, hands held tight to his bow as fingers quickly laced yet another arrow. The Oracle had predicted his death to be at the hand of such a beast. But the knight refused to believe in such fate. He released his arrow, aiming for the heart._

With a curse, Raven placed the book at her side. From the outside hallway came a constant knocking, which she guessed was another Titan, probably Beast Boy. She pulled herself from her bedside and allowed her door to slide open, though she stepped in front of it, in hopes of blocking the channeling's view.

It would be an understatement to say she was surprised to see her leader standing there, looking nervous nonetheless. Though her face gave away nothing, her expression being emotionless as usual, she couldn't help being suspicious.

"What do you want?" she asked, her tone dry, but accusing.

Robin outwardly flinched, "Well um." He reached back and scratched his head, searching for the words. Raven noticed he kept his other hand clenched at the side, as if he held something in it.

"Is there something in your hand?"

A metaphorical light bulb flicked on above Robin's head, "Oh, oh yeah. Um, here." He thrust his fist forward, opening it to reveal two fortune cookies, slightly cracked ones at that. Raven supposed they'd been harmed by the amount of pressure Robin had caused by clenching them. "Since, you know. You missed dinner, I though you, might be hungry…" He trailed off, realizing that the glare had yet to leave her face, "Or you know maybe you like fortunes, since you like superstitious things…" Again he trailed off, still unable to reel her in.

"Thanks but no thanks," Raven retorted in monotone, "But I don't believe in fate."

She tried to close the door, but Robin slipped his foot between the crack, catching it before it closed. _Does he have steel toes in there?_ Raven caught herself wondering, knowing that Beast Boy would've cried out in pain had he tried to same action.

"Look Raven," continued Robin, his nerves beginning to ease. She could hear the "leader-tone" coming back into his voice, the once he used when giving orders. What had caused such a sudden change in him? "You haven't eaten in like three days! You keep hiding away in here. We're your friends okay, we don't want to see you get sick, and you don't have to hide from us. So just eat one okay?"

Raven sighed, not willing to give into him so easily but still she took a cookie from his outstretched palm, making the Boy Wonder smile. _That doesn't mean I'm going to eat it,_ she glared back at him, cracking the cookie open and letting the small slip of paper flutter to the floor. Robin withdrew his hand and began unwrapping the other. He slipped his fortune from between the two halves of the cookie and read aloud much to Raven's annoyance; "_Don't let your limitations overshadow your talents._ Hmm, that's not a bad one," Robin reasoned as he devoured half his cookie. He watched Raven carefully and after what felt like an hour, though at the most a minute, Raven gave a sigh and popped a smaller piece of her cookie into her mouth. Internally, Robin cheered, happy she'd given in; though the look on her face showed she didn't share his excitement. The following moment passed in awkward silence, with the two just staring at one another, daring the opposing side to make the first move.

"Okay, I guess I'll go then," Robin sighed, breaking the tension. He guessed he couldn't ask for much more from her. She'd let him in, eaten a part of the cookie, and even listened to his lecture. He was just worried. She was a member of his team. He would feel the same way if any of the others were doing the same thing.

"Alright bye." Raven responded, with a push of her door the moment Robin removed his foot, casting her again into the darkness. It felt odd especially after the bright light of the hallway and of the warmth that Robin himself reflected; like stepping from a warm bathtub into a snow bank. Raven picked up her book and tried to immerse herself in in the writing, but she was no longer captivated. _He doesn't understand. Fate has a different meaning for me. _Raven shook her head; trying to clear her thoughts, _My fate, me, I almost brought the end of the world. _

Raven leaned back against her bed. If anything, she wished she could lay her thoughts before her and sort them out like cards. Her fears would be in one pile, her hopes another, one here, one there, until she was able to look at them neatly and not in the jumble that they were now.

_That wasn't very nice of you Raven. He just wanted to make you feel better. _

_But he doesn't understand._

_He'll never understand. None of them will, unless you help them._

_No, won't tell. Can't tell._

Still Raven raised herself yet again from the bedspread and walked towards the door. _If he's still there, I'll tell_, she reasoned, hating herself for feeling so weak and alone. Despite these feelings, no part of her was really itching to sit down with Robin, and attempt to explain herself and her emotions to him. Raven slowly inched her door open, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Robin wasn't like the others. He understood privacy, and what it meant to her especially. Raven wished she could thank him for that and even a small part of her wished she could apologize for her behavior. He'd just wanted to make her feel better, she understood that but still, she had boundaries and even if Robin understood where they were, he'd overstepped them.

Raven, ready to close her door for hopefully the last time that night, gave one last sigh; trying to play with the emotions that bubbled deep inside her. She hated them. They were puzzles to her, like those Rubics cubes that Beast Boy threw to the ground in minutes once he screwed up a line. She couldn't deal with them. At least not now. As she inched the door shut her forgotten fortune happened to catch her last glimpse of the hallway, and despite her better judgment, Raven found herself reaching down to grab it.

Carefully she tugged the paper taunt, absorbing the single sentence written in the deep blue; _Trust in those you hold close._

Raven shook her head. It was silly, a coincidence at best.

She crumbled the slip, throwing it into the waste bin without another look.

Raven didn't believe in fate.

So why should she believe in trust?


End file.
